Food & Friends: Take Two

On Sunday, February 25 NURF hosted our second-annual Food & Friends Dinner in Norris! We invited members of the Evanston and Northwestern community to enjoy a delicious “real food” dinner while engaging in important dialogue about the role that food plays in our lives. In case you were wondering (which you are), the menu included green freekeh meatballs, quinoa chickpea fritters and candied beet mousse - among other items. We also hosted two speakers, Matt Ryan from Talking Farm and Mac Durkes, sous chef from Boltwood.

Durkes described Boltwood’s role in the farm-to-table movement, which began as a response to chefs lacking ingredients. Boltwood is supplied by Chefs’ Warehouse as well as local farmers. The restaurant tries to produce in-season dishes, Durkes said, so they source a lot of ingredients from Southern California and Costa Rica, especially in the winter months. The menu tends to be the most creative during the winter, when chefs try to use local ingredients like beets, rutabaga and sweet potatoes.

Durkes pointed to the pros and cons of the farm-to-table method. While it is more expensive to buy from farmers markets, other forms of agriculture are only cheaper due to cheap immigrant labor and government subsidies. The pros, he said, are ingredients higher in nutritional value that boost the local economy.

Talking Farm has formed a relationship with Boltwood, selling produce to the upscale Evanston eatery and welcoming Durkes to volunteer with harvest once a week.

Ryan said that Talking Farm aims to educate about crop rotation, retail experience at farmers markets and general sustainable practices.

Talking Farm helped establish a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which raises money by selling weekly produce subscription baskets. Pro bono lawyers and the Skokie Parks Department donated a total of 3 acres to the project, which Ryan said is “a very biodiverse” farm. The operation includes crop rotation and integrated pest management (IPM).

Ryan emphasized the social justice component of food, which includes environmental stewardship and safeguarding the health of communities.

“Small farms are the way of the future,” Ryan said